March 1 - 31, 2025: Issue 640

 

2025 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships: Opens - Newport Wins 11th Straight Title!

Open Program Kicks Off at Surf State Champs

Friday 14 March 2025: Report by Surf Life Saving New South Wales

Competition is underway and a few medals have been won as the 2025 NSW Open Surf Life Saving Championships, proudly presented by Your local club, began with a bang at Queenscliff beach.

Athletes contested a large portion of the final program, running cornerstone surf sports events such as the Irons, Boards, Skis, and Swims through to semi-finals ahead of a finals package on Sunday.

Other races crowned new champions, headlined by a heartwarming win for a northern club that had been unable to train in the leadup to the event due to conditions brought about by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Cudgen Headland SLSC’s Izzy Arghyros and Charli Mills were thrilled to take out the U15 Female Board Rescue final, embracing on the finish line after what has been a crazy two weeks.

Jacob Chalmers and Henry Whitehead from Manly LSC were the winners of the U15 Male Board Rescue – just moments before teaming up with Dylan Seymour and Thomas McMurtry to win the U15 Male Cameron Relay.

Earlier, it had been the Newport SLSC show in the female swim teams events, where all four categories were won by the Sydney Northern Beaches club.

Remarkably, in the U15, U17 and Open races, Newport finished with the first four competitors across the line to register the smallest score possible in the countback event.

Things were a lot tougher in the mens division, where the Newport Open Male swim team of Brayden Woodford, Conner Maggs, Lachlan Warrener and Jackson Borg finished just a single point better than Wanda SLSC to win the gold.

Wanda teams would win both the U19 and U17 categories, while Avoca Beach SLSC’s team of Ashton Bone, Billy McCarthy, Levi Sinclair and Tor Manser had excellent swims to claim the U15 race.

The Mixed Double Ski finals were also contested, with Swansea Belmont SLSC’s Kaitlin Rees and Thomas Hall too strong in the U19s and Newport’s Jasmin Locke and Jayke Rees won the Open race.

Riley Wait won gold in the U19 Male 2km Beach Run as the shadows began to descend over the beach, while Kyah Wallen from Wanda beat clubmate Layla White to the U15 2km gold.

The Championships continues tomorrow with more Open and Surf Boat racing.

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Surf State Champs Finals Package Takes Shape

Saturday 15 March 2025: Report by Surf Life Saving New South Wales

A bumper final day of the NSW Surf Life Saving Championships, proudly presented by Your local club, is in store after hundreds more athletes contested the Open and Surf Boat programs across six water areas and one beach track.

A slate full of team events met Open athletes, with several culminating in medals awarded and others pushing over to Sunday’s finals package.

Cudgen Headland SLSC’s Fletcher Burdekin, Jules Loemker and Phoenix Preston kicked their day off in style with an excellent win in the U17 Male Board Relay, while further down the beach their clubmates, Izzy Arghyros, Skye Campbell and Charli Mills won the U15 Female Board Relay.

In the Board Rescues, Australian Iron champion, Dan Collins and teammate, Isak Costello caused arguably the upset of the day in the Open Male race, finishing first ahead of Newport SLSC powerhouse team, Charlie Brooks and Conner Maggs.

Warilla Barrack Point SLSC’s Jayden Beaumont and Will Fowler denied Maggs a gold in the U19 Board Rescue as well, while Swansea Belmont SLSC’s Kaitlin Rees and Kaleah Kingston bagged the Hunter club another gold in the U17 Female category.

Newport dominated the Taplin Relay finals, winning both U19 categories as well as the U17 Female. The latter came after Charli Barbour went from second out of the water to first past the post with a strong run to beat a Swansea team of Rees, Kingston and Xanthe Calov.

The Ski Relays and Double Skis were all split between Newport and Swansea in a dominant day for the two clubs, while the Sydney Northern Beaches club had eighteen athletes on the podium with the A, B and C teams claiming all the medals on offer in the Open Mixed Taplin Relay.

On the beach, Nicholas Aivaliotas from Wollongong City was quickest down the track in the U17 Male Beach Sprint, while Noah Nakagawa from Wamberal SLSC and Annabel Penny from South Maroubra SLSC won the U19 Male and Female sprints.

Cronulla SLSC’s Open Female Beach Relay team of Ngaire Hadfield, Nicole Jones, Zara Lammers and Amy Watson beat strong teams out of South Maroubra and Wollongong City to the gold medal.

In the flags, Moruya SLSC’s NSW Junior Lifesaver of the Year and news anchor extraordinaire, Zara Hall won the U15 Female event, and Avoca Beach SLSC’s Finn Robertson won the U17 Male flags. The Open categories were won by South Maroubra’s Jake Lynch and North Cronulla’s Emily Rampoldi.

The final day of the 2025 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships, proudly presented by Your local club, saw the individual finals package streamed live of Facebook and Youtube.

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Newport Remains Untouchable at Open Surf State Champs

Sunday 16 March 2025: Report by Surf Life Saving New South Wales

Years and years of Open success has continued on Queenscliff beach after Newport SLSC claimed the club’s 11th straight NSW Open and Surf Boat Surf Life Saving Championships title.

The Sydney Northern Beaches Branch club has enjoyed more than a decade of dominance at the top of the sport, and as Sarah Locke crossed the line after her swim leg in the Open Female Taplin Relay – the carnivals' last event – some several hundred metres ahead of Swansea Belmont SLSC in second, it was perhaps an appropriate way to finish.

Newport podiumed regularly and often multiple times in the same event, but the story of the day was the destruction caused by Analise Kibble – dubbed affectionately as the AK47.

The 20-year-old ran the slate in the Open category, winning the Female Board, Swim, Ski and Iron and was a member of the Taplin Relay winners as well.

“She’s had an amazing off season and has done a lot of work and I’m so stoked it’s paying dividends for her,” 2024 Coolangatta Gold champion, Jemma Smith said of Analise.

“It’s so great to see your club mates doing so well.”

Wanda SLSC, a club familiar with wonderful State Champs Open weekends, finished second once again and Swansea Belmont climbed into the top three after finishing agonisingly short – just four points behind neighbours to the north, Redhead SLSC – in 2024.

The Hunter club loved the results recorded by U17 superstar, Kaitlin Rees, herself almost clean sweeping the category if not for Pipi Te Pania who grabbed a gold ahead of Kaitlin in the U17 Female Board.

Manly LSC’s Henry Whitehead continued his excellent weekend with a win in the U15 Male Swim, Board and Iron – one of only two Iron events not to be taken out by a Newport cap. Of note, though, was Jackson Borg’s impressive win in the Open Male Iron ahead of a fast-finishing Charlie Verco and Redhead’s Dan Collins.

Earlier in the day, Brayden Woodford of Newport won the Saxon Bird Memorial Trophy by taking out the U19 Male Surf Race, and Terrigal SLSC’s Jett Green won the U19 Male Board, earning him the Jacob Lollback Memorial Trophy.

Jackson McCleery from Maroubra SLSC improved on his U19 Swim win in 2024 with an Open Swim win this year, while Lani Waller, now of Newport, won the U19 Female Swim.

Redhead’s Alannah Dimmock topped a beautiful podium of more regional clubs – ahead of Marli Hoyland from Umina SLSC and Izzy Arghyros from Cudgen Headland SLSC – in the U15 Female Board.

Photos by Shane Abrahamson and volunteer snapper, Anthony Rose, and Surf Life Saving NSW

Results

Opens: HERE 

Surf Boats:  HERE 

Opens results: leaderboard

                                              Points 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

1 Newport                              590         53 23 18 18 8 15    

10  Manly LSC                      111           5 2 5 10 8 5

16 Freshwater                        69           4 4 2 4 1 3

18 South Curl Curl                 62           4 2 4 2 2 2

21 Palm Beach (NSW)          43           1 3 1 4 1 4

22 North Curl Curl                 41           1 1 5 1 3 1

25 Collaroy                             32           - 3 4 - - 1

26 Queenscliff                       31           3 - 2 1 1 -

27 North Steyne                    26           1 2 - 2 2 -

34 Avalon Beach                      9           1 - - 1 - -

38 Mona Vale                           6           1 - - - - -

40 Dee Why                              5           - 1 - - - -

41 Whale Beach                       5           - - - 1 1 -

Open March Past

  • 1 North Cronulla Team A - 
  • 2 Collaroy Bears 
  • 3 Collaroy Ladies 
  • 4  Freshwater Maroons 
  • 9 Collaroy Comebacks
  • 12 Queenscliff Team A

Surf Boat results

Reserve Grade Female Surf Boat

  • 4 Avalon Beach CHAOS - 1 Tegan Bilson, 2 Tara Neasmith, 3 Lauren Petersen, 4 Sophie Valentine, 5 Nathan Wellings
  • 6 Palm Beach (NSW) Pterodactyls - 1 Stephen Cox, 2 Ingrid Haughton, 3 Stephanie Spence, 4 Alexandra Stirling, 5 Alexandra Tyrrell

Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat

  • 1 Avalon Beach Pinkies - 1 Torin Calf, 2 Thomas Curnow, 3 Matthew Mayall, 4 Lachie Mills, 5 Nathan Wellings
  • 2 Collaroy Red -  1 Mark Anderson, 2 Peter Barratt, 3 Mathew Chave, 4 Bailey Dwyer, 5 Eugene Swanepoel
  • 4 Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Pelicans - 1 Benjamin Edwards, 2 Ryan Edwards, 3 Matthew Giblin, 4 Hunter Graham, 5 James Polkinghorne
  • 6 Palm Beach (NSW) Peppers - 1 Stephen Cox, 2 Marcus Greene, 3 Anthony Kenny, 4 Dugald Shannon, 5 Harrison Tuit

Open Female Surf Boat

  • 1 South Curl Curl Shakers - 1 Michela Verwey, 2 Georgie Smith, 3 Georgina Rowe, 4 Lara Campbell, 5 Mark Spiteri
  • 2 Collaroy Giants - 1 Mark Anderson, 2 Jessica Layton, 3 Rhiannon Lea, 4 Alysha Lerond, 5 Kelly Trim
  • 3 South Curl Curl Hoozya - 1 Nicola Berry, 2 Ellie Clubb,3 Willow Doyle, 4 Rob Lowery, 5 Malawi Warneford
  • 4 Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Pirates - 1 Gabriela Chubb, 2 Meg Conlon,  3 Stephen Cox, 4 Ingrid Holtheuer, 5 Lucy Lake

Open Male Surf Boat

  • 3 Palm Beach (NSW) Phoenix - 1 Stephen Cox, 2 Robert Giblin, 3 Jackson Kench, 4 James Alexander Riley, 5 Stuart Wickens
  • 5 Queenscliff Q A Rollers - 1 Damien Daley, 2 Simon Gillespie, 3 Connor Hopkins, 4 James Molloy, 5 Campbell Watts

U23 Female Surf Boat

  • 1 Palm Beach (NSW) Pythons - 1 Chloe Brunker, 2 Elizabeth Holtheuer, 3 Madeleine Julliard, 4 Peter Spence, 5 Ali Waddington
  • 2 Palm Beach (NSW) Pina Coladas - 1 Charlotte Cadman, 2 Charlotte Donnelley, 3 Matthew Giblin, 4 Abigail Skinner, 5 Grace Tassell
  • 3 Newport Stingers - 1 Alani Barros, 2 Zoe Ellis, 3 Ella Gale, 4 Michael King, 5 April McCarney
  • 6 Collaroy Crusaders - 1 Lauren Deane, 2 Isabella Dunkin, 3 Abbie O'Sullivan, 4 Gavin Scott, 5 Frankie Webster
  • 7 Mona Vale Motorboats - 1  Arabella Archibald, 2 Olivia Chaffers-Welsh, 3 Luke Chivers, 4 Lilly Kovac, 5 Sophie Nettelbeck

U23 Male Surf Boat

  • 1 South Curl Curl Burley - 1 Angus Campbell, 2 David Campbell, 3 Alan Perry, 4 Jack Rivett, 5 Mark Spiteri
  • 2 Palm Beach (NSW) Phins - 1 Benjamin Brunker, 2 Thomas Lacey, 3 Aymeric Moloney, 4 Peter Spence, 5 Thomas Whalan
  • 3 South Curl Curl Underdogs -  1 Harrison Andrew, 2 Tremayne Chivers, 3 Rob Lowery, 4 Zac Lowery, 5 Sam Merry
  • 6 South Curl Curl Thickshake - 1 Flynn Grady, 2 Cody Kearney, 3 Toby Skelton, 4 Levi Welsh, 5 Nathan Wilson

U19 Female Surf Boat

  • 1 Mona Vale Menace -  1 Georgia Alden, 2 James Meadows, 3 Abbey Pickering, 4 Anabel Rulli, 5 Jasmine Siddall
  • 2 Palm Beach (NSW) Prosecco - 1 Brooke Cuttance, 2 Lucy Miller, 3 Natalie Perry, 4 Annie Seve, 5 Peter Spence
  • 3 Collaroy Cannons  - 1 Elani Plummer, 2 Mark Reece, 3 Darcy Robbins, 4 Chelsea Robertson, 5 Aiyla Thomas-Smith

U19 Male Surf Boat

  • 1 Queenscliff Q U19 DD - 1 Harrison Braund, 2 Wyndham Bromiley, 3 Damien Daley, 4 Toby Golden, 5 Ryan Oliver
  • 3 Collaroy Black - 1 Xavier Bosland, 2 Luca George, 3 William Keep, 4 Robert Maloney, 5 Kane Sinclair
  • 4 South Curl Curl Tickles - 1 Logan Howes, 2 Kaleb Mark, 3 Jake Robinson, 4 Mark Spiteri, 5 Dom Vassallo

Under 19’s Rowers Boom on the Manly to Barrenjoey Peninsula 

Worth noting is our local Branch is experiencing a big uptake of surf boat rowing across the Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula. Among this tribe are some first Season boaties along with father-son participants in this surf sport, thereby being winners already simply by joining in, along with the benefits of learning new skills, increasing fitness, meeting others and having some fun. 

The crews that represented their club at this years SLS NSW State Championships are:

U19 Female Surf Boat

  • Mona Vale McChicks - 1 Kai Cooper, 2 Niah Hammond, 3 Mabel Hancock, 4 Bonnie Johnston, 5 Sascha Kneipp
  • Newport Nessies -  1 Chloe Deleu, 2 Mark Fitzgerald, 3 Josephine Motte, 4 Madison Perry, 5 Arianna Rich
  • Long Reef Lionesses - 1 Lulu Burney, 2 Anna Davidson, 3 Aisling Kennedy, 4 Robert Pearson, 5 Harriet Sweeting
  • South Curl Curl Cruisers - 1 Jess English, 2 Christopher Flemming, 3 Summer Osborn, 4 Ciara Porteous, 5 Ivy Warneford
  • South Curl Curl Runaways - 1 Zoe Burke, 2 Nikki English, 3 Rosanna Gallo, 4 Nathan Wilson, 5 Abigail Wilson

U19 Male Surf Boat

  • Palm Beach (NSW) Perenties - 1 Liam Macfarlane, 2 Oscar Petras, 3 Peter Spence, 4 Max Tancred, 5 Jackson Thomas
  • Palm Beach (NSW) Prophets -  1 Rory Egan, 2 Jacob Goss, 3 Rory Hall, 4 William Hirst,  5 Ben Roe
  • Bilgola Beach Chicken Legs - 1 Dane Burns, 2 Fletcher Hole, 3 Neil Jones, 4 Liam Kilpatrick, 5 Myles Nicholas
  • Mona Vale Boxheads - 1 Olivier Bennell, 2 Kai Cooper, 3 Michael Di Costanzo, 4 Archie Lane, 5 Jack Munro
  • Mona Vale Black -  1 Brendan Lindfield, 2 Bryce Munro, 3 William Munro, 4 Cornelius Scholz, 5 Jack Van Wensveen
  • North Narrabeen Newbies -  1 Charlie Adams, 2 Alex Green, 3 Peter Kelly, 4 Donald McManus, 5 Callum Poling
  • Collaroy Black - 1 Xavier Bosland, 2 Luca George, 3 William Keep, 4 Robert Maloney, 5 Kane Sinclair
  • Collaroy Rowdies - 1 William Cannon, 2 Luca Ferguson, 3 Matthew Hopkins, 4 Toby Johnston, 5 Mark Reece
  • South Curl Curl Tickles - 1 Logan Howes, 2 Kaleb Mark, 3 Jake Robinson, 4 Mark Spiteri, 5 Dom Vassallo
  • South Curl Curl Carnage - 1 Robert Braaksma-Menks, 2 Alexander Conran, 3 Owen Koster, 4 Jelle Spijker, 5 Nathan Wilson
  • Queenscliff Q U19 DD -  1 Harrison Braund, 2 Wyndham Bromiley, 3 Damien Daley, 4 Toby Golden, 5 Ryan Oliver

Open Mixed Surf Boat Relay: the Surf Life Saving Sydney Northern Beaches Branch crews win

1 South Curl Curl Team A - 1; Nicola Berry, 2; Lara Campbell, 3; Michael Egan, 4; Logan Howes, 5; Samuel Lowery, 6; Rob Lowery, 7; Kaleb Mark, 8; Jake Robinson, 9; Trent Rogers, 10; Georgina Rowe, 11; Georgie Smith, 12; Mark Spiteri, 13; Jordan Thurlow, 14; Dom Vassallo,15; Michela Verwey

2 Queenscliff Team A - 1; Harrison Braund, 2; Wyndham Bromiley, 3; Damien Daley, 4; Nicki Daley, 5; Simon Gillespie, 6; Toby Golden, 7; Connor Hopkins, 8; Kristina Larsen, 9; James Molloy, 10; Robyn Moore, 11; Ryan Oliver, 12; Matthew Sheridan, 13; Sophie Wade, 14; Campbell Watts, 

3 Collaroy Red - 1; Mark Anderson, 2; Peter Barratt, 3; Xavier Bosland, 4; Mathew Chave, 5; Bailey Dwyer, 6; Luca George, 7; William Keep, 8; Jessica Layton, 9; Rhiannon Lea, 10; Alysha Lerond, 11; Robert Maloney, 12; Kane Sinclair, 13; Eugene Swanepoel, 14; Kelly Trim

4 Palm Beach (NSW) Green - 1; Gabriela Chubb, 2; Meg Conlon, 3; Stephen Cox, 4; Robert Giblin, 5; Ingrid Holtheuer, 6; Jackson Kench, 7; Lucy Lake, 8; Liam Macfarlane, 9; Oscar Petras, 10; James Alexander Riley, 11; Peter Spence, 12; Max Tancred, 13; Jackson Thomas, 14; Stuart Wickens

A Video and more 2025 SLS NSW Opens State Championship photos by Shane Abrahamson and volunteer snapper, Anthony Rose for participants, and Surf Life Saving NSW: